Wai Ting Yu
When I was initially told to write something, my reaction was that, no problem, I can write that easily, as I have written patagraphs that ate longer than that. Of course, as it turns out, it is never that easy, especially when you want it to be a work of love and labor, not one of mindless shrivel.

In a way, this church has been a patt of me just as much as I have been part of it. When I first started coming here, I was a little 12-yeat-old perfectionist-wannabe, just on the brink of starting out in the bigger world. Looking back, it is hard to believe how far I have come in the last nine yeats, as I struggled through the teen years perhaps the most important and life-changing yeats of my life. I had my share of joy and sorrow, encouragements and disappointments, successes and failures. I learned to not take anything for granted and not to take things so seriously. No one was perfect and after many years, I finally taught myself to let go when circumstances called for it. I laughed, I cried, but in the end, I learned. I started to accept myself more for being who I was and knew that no matter how imperfect I was, there would always, ALWAYS, be people supporting and loving me my family and my friends.

Nothing in the world can change the friendships I have made in the last nine years in this church, as I consider a few my closest friends in the world and I can only be eternally grateful to them. And I think if nothing else, one verse has continued to stick with me more so than any other and that verse is Luke 1:37 "With God, nothing is impossible". In context, this was the angel Gabriel telling a stunned Virgin Mary that she will carry the baby Jesus, who will become Christ and Savior to all. Now, if God can give His only son to save us from eternal damnation, what can He not do? I will continue to lift my eyes to the Lord for with Him, nothing is impossible, even if it may feel like it sometimes.
Have faith, have hope, and always, have love!

Church Just Line My Family

Brian Chan
Having attended this church since I was born, it is a blessing. Every Sunday I learn about God and I. was introduced to the very famous book, the Holy Bible. I first studied the picture bible. As I grew older, I started reading the Bible which helps me to know more about Jesus Christ. Through out the years, I have grown in Christ and understand His ways. One summer our church encouraged me to enroll at the Herald Gospel
Camp. It gave me this opportunity to grow even more in Christ. This church is like family to me and it is a great
place to learn more about God .

Tidbits Of 25th Anniversary Celebration

• April 24, 2004 was a sunny and pleasant day. But it was drizzling and cold the night before. All the brothers and sisters, working hard for the preparation of the celebration, were worrying about the next day's weather. Everybody prayed for a good-weather day. It turned out that with God's blessing, we had a gorgeous day .
• The celebration was held at the New York Theological Education Center in Flushing. All members of our church arrived early to prepare for the party. The choir was busy in rehearsal and the power point was set up to coordinate with the worship programs. The youngsters were in charge of decorating. They were full of creative ideas. In a short time, they accomplished the task for two places: the worship hall and the dining hall. Both looked splendid and artistic .
• The guests came from different churches allover the city including twenty plus pastors. One hundred and fifty seats were filled to capacity .
• Thanksgiving worship began with singing of hymns by the congregation. Led by Elder James Leung, evety hymn brought our hearts nearer to God. All enjoyed the presence of God .
• Mr. Ching Kwok Ho led the worship. He successfully made a good arrangement of the program. The congregation sang "1 Love Thy Church, 0 God". Elder Lila Chiao and Henry Chiao read the Scriptures
in Chinese and English, respectively. The choir offered a special hymn "Gift of Love" and our honorable guest Ms. Susan Ho presented a solo "My Tribute". The beautiful songs brought us all into the summit of a
worshiping atmosphere .
• Rev. Willy Ng of Elmhurst Christian Gospel Church was invited to preach for the occasion His topic was "Living Church, Living Truth". All congregations were urged to go after our Lord's words. He also told all Christians to study the Bible with three states of mind: love letter (affection in heart), testament (inherit the properties) and the imperial decree (holy command). Rev. Ng spoke in the manner of relaxation and explained the truth to the point. The congregation all gained a lot from the sermon .
• Another honorable guest was Rev. Miriam Shelton, Moderator of the Presbytery of New York City. She congratulated us and praised God that our church is full of spirit and unity,
• Lastly, the founder of our church Rev. Eson Tse gave us a speech. He talked about the beginnings of the church, cultivating it intensively and bringing growth to our church. His labor will be returned by God's
blessing .
• A group photo was taken after the worship. It captured the largest crowd since the founding of our church.
In half an hour, with the help of the brothers and sisters of the First Chinese Presbyterian Church of NYC, the seats were set up and the people took their seat in order. A historical photo was taken!
• Dinner was served right afterwards. Food was rich and delicious. All were well prepared by Ms. Cherry Liu.
A mango birthday cake was presented by all the elders. Everybody enjoyed the wonderful performances and
raffled prizes .
• Our computer experts, Ms. Karen Chan and Mr. Nelson Lee, gave a power point presentation of the highlights of the day. The presentation was great and everyone appreciated it very much .
• The whole gathering went smoothly with the efforts of all the participants. Elder Linda Chan who made all the planning was given the credit for the success of the party. She had injured her arm three days ago and
was present with a cast to help. Everybody was deeply moved .
• Last but not least, may the glory be to our Lord who gave us a beautiful and unforgettable day. May He bless our church to become a "Living Church"!